The Spring Equinox – a chance to rebalance

This week we’ve had the Spring Equinox, the annual celestial alignment between the Earth and the sun, which usually takes place on or around 21st March.  It is accompanied by a change in the seasons from winter to spring in the Northern hemisphere.

The Spring Equinox occurs when the Earth is in the right place with respect to the sun. At this point in the Earth’s roughly 365-day journey, both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres receive almost the same amount of daylight (12 hours), meaning there are almost equal amounts of daytime and nighttime in both halves of the Earth. Hence, the word, equinox, which means “equal night” in Latin.

The Spring Equinox marks the start of longer days for the Northern Hemisphere (and shorter days for the Southern Hemisphere). It has long been celebrated as a time of rebirth with the spring festivals of Easter and Passover celebrated at this time.

It’s a perfect time to think about the balance and the ‘yin’ and ‘yang’ in our own lives. The basis of this Chinese philosophy is that all life is ruled by the interplay of these 2 dynamic forces: yin is negative, yang is positive. Seemingly opposite or contrary forces (such as night and day, darkness and light, masculine and feminine), one cannot exist without the other. The whole is greater than the parts.

The table below gives some characteristics of Yin and Yang:

Ying Yang
feminine
negative
passive
inward
sensitive
soft
cold

expansive

dark

moon/night

sad
intuition
future
masculine
positive
active
outward
strong
hard
hot

contractive

light

sun/day

joyful
logic
past

The yin yang symbol  (see below) is a wonderful expression of the interplay between the two forces. The black colour represents the yin and the white colour represents the yang. There is a black dot that looks like an eye of the white fish. Similarly, there is a white dot as if an eye of the black fish. If you were to walk through the diameter of the circle, you would not experience pure black or pure white. There is always some black and some white. This reflects that the yin and yang are rooted in one another. You find yin in yang, and yang in yin reflecting the reality of life: there are seeds of sadness in happiness and opportunities in every risk.

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The roundedness of the symbol gives the sense of continual movement and interaction of the two energies. Yin can turn into yang and yang turns into yin, causing a new state of yin-yang relationship to establish. The aim is to balance them as far as possible for without balance there is discord and disharmony in our worlds.

A challenge for us in life is to balance the yin and yang in things we do. The better we are in finding the equilibrium, the more effective we can be.

I’d like you to think about:

  1. The yin and yang aspects of your life. Are your mood and energy more aligned to yin or yang at this point in time?
  2. Where you have been focusing your time and efforts. Have you been focussed on work rather than family, fitness or self-care?
  3. The aspects of your life you have been neglecting. Do you need to reconsider your priorities to stay balanced?

If you have been giving to others you need to take the time to receive for yourself. There are many ways to find your way back to balance. Here is a handful of suggestions below:

  • To counteract the long time spent sitting at your desk during the week, go out and enjoy a run or hike, sit outside or sign up for a fitness or yoga class
  • We all need a respite from social interactions. Take time out to just ‘be’. Immerse yourself in a good book, meditate or enjoy an hour in a flotation tank
  • Whenever possible, ditch your smart clothes for casual attire. Spend a day with no makeup, relaxed and free in tracksuit bottoms!
  • If you’re feeling grumpy or dissatisfied, take a moment to reflect on all the good things you have in life and what you have to be grateful for
  • Whenever possible, take a break from your hectic routine. Plan regular holidays or long weekends to relax and do things you enjoy
  • If you find you’ve been eating unhealthily, try to balance the junk with nutrient-dense food such as healthy vegetables, a salad, or one of my go-to recipes here

The chart below may help you see where you can make choices to rebalance your diet:

Yin Foods: “Yoga Foods”

 Makes you light and happy

Can make you spacey and scattered

Yang Foods: “Weight-lifter Foods”

 Makes you grounded and focused

Can make you aggressive and forceful

Raw Cooked
Fruits Chicken and eggs and meat
sweeteners salt
alcohol

Balanced Foods:

Whole grains (brown rice, millet, quinoa, oats

Dark leafy greens

Vegetables: squash, carrots, onions, broccoli, mushrooms

Beans and legumes

 

 

So, I’d love to hear your thoughts around the areas you are going to focus on to rebalance, ready to shrug off that winter blanket and leap into spring with vitality and energy.

Alison Middleton

Roast Veg

This makes a nice change to boiling or steaming vegetables. Great as a side dish accompaniment to a roast or just on their own.

Choose any combination of all or some of the following (whatever you have to hand):

  • 4 cups of cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and/or broccoli
  • 2 carrots
  • ½ squash
  • 6 parsnips
  • 2 sweet potatoes
  • 2 purple onions (cut into quarters) or 8 shallots
  • 2 courgettes
  • 1 red, orange or yellow pepper or a mixture
  • 1 large beet
  • 1 large garlic bulb, broken up into cloves and peeled (see trick above)
  • ¼ tsp sea salt
  • black pepper to taste
  • 2 to 3 tsp extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil
  • couple of sprigs of rosemary (optional)
  1. Preheat oven to 400F or 200C
  2. Chop all the vegetables (except the parsnips – you can leave them as they are) in similar size chunks. If using cauliflower, break it up into florets or if using Brussel sprouts cut stems off and cut in half
  3. Toss all vegetables and whole garlic cloves with seasonings and oil
  4. Place vegetables on large sheet pan (Tip: cover the pan with parchment paper to make it easy for clean-up)
  5. Roast vegetables for 20 mins and stir, then roast for another 15 mins or until vegetables are golden brown on the edges.

 

A big leap of faith

So, what a week I’ve just had. I learnt an important lesson and that is to take action and go after what you want in life.  Even though it can be incredibly hard, ‘pluck up the courage’  to go for it. Don’t settle for second best and even if it seems like it might not be possible still go for it. I chose the word COURAGE to be my word for this year (see my blog post here if you have yet to pick yours!)  as I knew there were some hard decisions to be made,  actions to be taken and it was time to put them off no longer.  Continue reading

Reviewing your 2016: 7 Questions to Ask Yourself

It’s hard to believe that we are coming up to the end of another year. I know I say it every year but does anyone else think this year has gone faster than ever? I don’t know about you but it’s at this time of year with a new year fast approaching that I start to back over the course of the last 12 months and think about what I’ve achieved – and perhaps more strikingly what I haven’t. Continue reading